David Raya has enjoyed an assured start to his Arsenal career. (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)
3. David Raya’s first proper test
Raya has gotten a taste of Champions League football at home and will likely now earn his maiden North London Derby appearance. In his first two matches, he has been very assured without having to do much from a shot-stopping perspective.
Spurs are coming off an impressive come-from-behind victory against Sheffield United where Richarlison looked like he may have picked up his form that we have not seen since he was in an Everton shirt. This isn’t a knock on the Dutch side but I don’t think that PSV have a dynamic attacking player that measures to the quality of Tottenham’s attackers.
The visitors have also been able to enjoy a full week’s rest, so they should be fresh on Sunday afternoon and their exuberance could perhaps catch the Arsenal defence out. The Gunners’ backline has so far performed impressively with Raya between the sticks, but it’ll be a tough ask to completely shun Ange’s side this weekend and thus, Raya could be in for a busy afternoon.
It could be his first proper test.
@ChampionsLeague <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/23/3-things-look-out-for-arsenal-host-tottenham/3/"https://t.co/yG6AZXjEyQ">pic.twitter.com/yG6AZXjEyQ
<p>— afcstuff (@afcstuff) <a href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/23/3-things-look-out-for-arsenal-host-tottenham/3/"https://twitter.com/afcstuff/status/1705508577815802309?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>September 23, 2023</a></p></blockquote>
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<h2>1. Can the goals continue from the Champions League?</h2>
<p>It has not been the best start for the Gunners in the Premier League from a performance perspective, but Arsenal have managed to take 13 points out of 15. But if Arsenal are to challenge for the title like last season, they need to start scoring more goals.</p>
<p>Aside from a 3-1 victory against United (where two goals came in stoppage time) Arsenal’s margin for error has been slim winning the other three matches by one goal. While teams seem to play more defensively against the Gunners now, they must find a way to make life for themselves easier by scoring more goals.</p>
<p>Could the barrage of goals from Wednesday night at the Emirates foreshadow what’s to come? Four goals against a Dutch side who sit atop the Eredivisie table was an excellent return. Arsenal need to create chances and score more goals – <a title="Reborn Arsenal attack can exploit Tottenham weakness" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/23/3-things-look-out-for-arsenal-host-tottenham/3/"https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/22/reborn-arsenal-attack-can-exploit-tottenham-weakness/" rel="">Spurs should allow them to do so on Sunday</a>. Even the United match was a closely contested one until Gabriel Jesus’ finish in the 98th minute. The Gunners haven’t had a chance to breathe in the Premier League. More goals will provide that relief.</p>
<p><em>Continued on the next slide…</em></p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/23/3-things-look-out-for-arsenal-host-tottenham/3/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> #2 thing to watch in NLD </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_136543" class="wp-caption alignnone">
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-136543" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/23/3-things-look-out-for-arsenal-host-tottenham/3/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1751,w_2560/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1692793840-scaled.jpeg" alt="" width="2560" height="1751" srcset="https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1692793840-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1692793840-768x525.jpeg 768w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1692793840-1536x1051.jpeg 1536w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1692793840-2048x1401.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px"><p class="wp-caption-text">Gabriel Jesus was superb on Wednesday night. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)</p>
</div>
<h2>2. Gabriel Jesus must start</h2>
<p>This is not a knock on Eddie Nketiah, who has deputised for Jesus up front rather well. He has done so well that he got a call-up to the English National Team. He has accounted himself well and should continue to be the number two option leading the line moving forward. But Gabriel Jesus is such a dynamic player simply has to start every meaningful game he’s available for.</p>
<p>He certainly looked fit on Wednesday night.</p>
<p>Jesus was everywhere on the pitch being chaotic and giving the Dutch side more than they could handle. The Brazilian was rewarded for his hard work by finding the back of the net. Jesus scored in last year’s NLD at the Emirates and I get the sense that he’s itching to notch another one.</p>
<p><em>Continued on the next slide…</em></p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #c01f2f" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/23/3-things-look-out-for-arsenal-host-tottenham/3/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> #3 thing to watch in NLD </a>
</div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_136544" class="wp-caption alignnone">
<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-136544" src=https://paininthearsenal.com/2023/09/23/3-things-look-out-for-arsenal-host-tottenham/3/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1974,w_2560/https%3A%2F%2Fpaininthearsenal.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1694384223-scaled.jpeg" alt="" width="2560" height="1974" srcset="https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1694384223-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1694384223-768x592.jpeg 768w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1694384223-1536x1185.jpeg 1536w, https://paininthearsenal.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1694384223-2048x1580.jpeg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px"><p class="wp-caption-text">David Raya has enjoyed an assured start to his Arsenal career. (Photo by Visionhaus/Getty Images)</p>
</div>
<h2>3. David Raya’s first proper test</h2>
<p>Raya has gotten a taste of Champions League football at home and will likely now earn his maiden North London Derby appearance. In his first two matches, he has been very assured without having to do much from a shot-stopping perspective.</p>
<p>Spurs are coming off an impressive come-from-behind victory against Sheffield United where Richarlison looked like he may have picked up his form that we have not seen since he was in an Everton shirt. This isn’t a knock on the Dutch side but I don’t think that PSV have a dynamic attacking player that measures to the quality of Tottenham’s attackers.</p>
<p>The visitors have also been able to enjoy a full week’s rest, so they should be fresh on Sunday afternoon and their exuberance could perhaps catch the Arsenal defence out. The Gunners’ backline has so far performed impressively with Raya between the sticks, but it’ll be a tough ask to completely shun Ange’s side this weekend and thus, Raya could be in for a busy afternoon.</p>
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<p>It could be his first proper test.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">
